"Got everything?"

"Yep!"

"You're sure? Absolutely sure?"

Daniel nodded distractedly, ruffling through a bag of holding he'd made from the evolved frost wyvern. Anything taken out was chilled midway between freezer and refrigerator temperature, ideal for one of the items he was bringing. "I've got everything, Alex. Thanks, but I'm ready."

"What about your shoes?" She asked challengingly.

Daniel looked down at the fur boots he was wearing and rolled his eyes. "I need these to get up there, and then I'll switch on the-"

"Dress shoes?" Alex picked up a pair of freshly purchased brown leather shoes from where they'd gotten bumped under his bed. Daniel hurriedly snatched them and put them first in the bag of cooling, swore, and withdrew the now chilled leather to swap into his normal one. "Someone's nervous."

"I'm fine," Daniel assured her. "Now I've got everything, nothing's going to go wrong, and Zolyra isn't going to call the war council until tomorrow. Or next week, maybe, you never know."

"He's halfway to throwing up from anxiety," Hunter called over from where he was leaning by the window and watching the sun set.

"Traitor!"

"Maybe don't make the emotion so strong next time," the ringcat replied nonchalantly. There'd been no spike in the Empathic Link that would've let Daniel know Hunter had been actively reading him, but they could always get a sense of each other's surface condition when close together. "You shouldn't be worried. She likes you. I can tell that much. Why can't you?"

"Because men are stupid, Hunter," Alex answered sagely. She changed the subject before either could protest. "Daniel, do you want me to give a blessing before you go? I can do it in 30 seconds. Still only have the dawn one, although now that everything's at 10 I should start finding more magic, right?"

"Ye- wait you're already balanced out?" Daniel was so surprised he stopped mid-stride toward the window. "What the hell? How did you get so much potential?"

"No idea. Maybe the game likes what I'm doing with Spinner?"

But the Collapse rules… is the Spoke helping her there too? It was not the time to investigate, especially because he still hadn't told anyone but Hunter what he'd done to potentially sway the system itself in Alex's favor. Things kept getting in the way, like his fear he'd be unable to undo whatever he'd done and Alex going off on him for it. Having a good relationship with her where she was perfectly happy to help him get ready for an important date wasn't something he wanted to lose.

"I don't think I'll need the mana, but thanks again Alex," Daniel said, glad he had a reason to be nervous. "Tell Willow that too when she's back from the stylist."

"Will do." Alex mock saluted him on her way out, leaving just Hunter and Daniel. The ringcat was in hybrid form and armor, but the only combat equipment Daniel had out was his flight gear. The rest was a hastily purchased suit that could best be described as a fancy silk poncho. Avianoids apparently preferred colorful hoods for ultra-formal wear and Daniel had picked it because of how similar it made him look to Shuni wearing her cloak.

Daylight was literally burning away, and yet Daniel paused by the window with Hunter. "You don't have to worry about anything."

"Why would I worry?" Hunter asked superfluously. They both knew what Daniel was getting at, yet leaving things understood but unsaid wasn't healthy.

"Change. Not that too much will unless this goes tremendously bad. Which it won't."

"But it will be different." Hunter passed his eyes over one arm. "I already spend more time awake in this body. Could pass as 'normal'. I see you and her get closer, feel the connection in your mind when we fight together and its ghost chases me. Do I copy it, or reject it and any future chance? What am I to this world? What should I be? There is hunting in my blood, but nothing else."

"That's not all there is. You've liked going out with Tak, right?" Some of Hunter's insecurity faded with that, along with the light. "I know Threst isn't your favorite place to be. Hell, the charm wore off on me when I met Kahvin. It's not like there aren't reasons to be stressed with everything deeply wrong with this world, but there's still hope for something better. Today it's me and Shuni, but tomorrow it could be something or someone you find. Don't give up."

"Never." Hunter's determination flared, and he gestured forward. "Now go on. Stop moping with me."

"Alright." Daniel vaulted the window like he was sneaking out of his parent's house instead of his own. "We'll be back by the morning at the latest. I'm removing my tag but you can reach me if you need me. Try and stall if we get the go signal but if Lograve wants me to come back, get me."

"Sounds good." Hunter's nose twitched, and he added, "Also, so I don't know, you should wash yourself before coming back if you and Shuni have-"

"Dude!"

…

Daniel flew as fast as he could through the darkening skies, knowing he would be too late. Not, like, terribly late, a few minutes at most depending on how you defined sunset, but it was a bad start to an important night.

His destination was one of the random islands scattered around Pinion's Point. Shuni had picked it out years ago as a quiet refuge. It was far enough that no one who couldn't defend themselves would go to it. That it was unconnected to any other land mass also ruled out those who couldn't fly or acquire the means to do so. Her trusting him with its location was one of the earlier green flags of the relationship, something he reminded himself of on approach.

Just stay cool and be yourself, he thought, before chuckling. Damn, and this is me with level 2 charisma. Daniel landed on the island, confusion turning to slight alarm as he didn't see Shuni anywhere. She was a Rogue, but she'd also peeled off right when they'd gotten back. Could Soraso have-

"Fancy seeing you here." Daniel's nervous doom pondering cut off as Shuni was suddenly standing a short distance from him, as if she'd always been there. Which she probably had been. He worried about the damn dress shoes for a moment before he realized she was wearing her combat gear. In fact, it didn't look like she'd changed at all since this morning. Shuni gestured at his hood. "Had to look twice to make sure it was you."

"Sure that was the only reason?" Daniel at least had the grace to deliver that line smoothly. His nerves rapidly improved with the smile Shuni failed to hide completely. "Sorry I'm late. I went by the Hand church and Thomas talked my ear off."

"So that's why you're wearing that hood. I don't think I've ever seen a human wear one, but with the wings it kind of worked." Shuni rubbed the side of her beak contemplatively, still maintaining some distance during the opening banter. "Now it just makes you look bald."

Something was off. Not the ribbing, Shuni could be like that when she knew someone wouldn't take offense. His acquired instincts were nudging him from the back of his mind. Daniel honed his senses and realized he couldn't hear Shuni breathing. Oh. This is a shadow clone. Tricky. Pushing the hood down the back of his head with a hand, Daniel turned from the illusory avianoid in front of him to look for the real one. "Ha. First time you've tried to get me with this. How long are you going to hold that 'keeping people on edge' comment against me?"

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"Until it isn't funny anymore, of course." The voice came from the illusion, but there was the faintest of echoes from another part of the island.

She's got muffle sound active around her real body. This is a lot of commitment for a joke. Now facing where he was sure Shuni actually was, Daniel held out a hand. "Well, as long as it keeps you near me I won't mind. Can I talk to the real you, though? Not that I mind there being two of you but I'd like this to be real, no powers or anything else between us."

The Rogue kept him waiting in the light breeze, the illusion fading out with time. He could have tagged her with Identify Creature by now, but was honest in wanting this night to be magic free. When she spoke next it was unguarded, no smokescreen between her words and her emotions despite still being physically invisible. "I… if this is too much you can tell me. I don't do this ever but it's, I wanted to give this my best shot."

"I do too," Daniel replied openly, feeling for Shuni. He'd had his sister, friends, and Quala to talk over his feelings with before this point. Whether she felt comfortable enough with the team to do likewise he wasn't sure, but there weren't too many others for her to confide in after breaking up with her last team. Daniel knew from experience how loneliness could exacerbate other emotions. "It's just us. There's no one else around, and with my protections there's no one spying either. No gods, monsters, anyone."

"So much for no powers," Shuni said wryly. "Alright. Just don't laugh if it was a bad idea." The Rogue appeared and Daniel's heart stopped. Shuni kept much about herself hidden most of the time, to the point that the only major wardrobe change she'd made in the time that he knew her was when he'd enchanted a cloak for her.

He had to look three times to make sure the woman standing a few feet away was who he'd been expecting as it did not match the illusory double at all. For one Shuni had most of her feathers exposed, some sort of silk half-toga covering her waist. Above that silvery dye that could have been raided from Tlara's father created intricately lined patterns across her body. The color was blended well enough into her natural gray that it looked as though it could've been natural, rather than an applied cosmetic. One of her wings, which the patterns ran across, covered her face as she lowered it. "If you don't like it I can-"

"You're beautiful," Daniel said instantly. "That's… I'm stunned, Shuni. That must have taken all day."

"It did." She stopped hiding her face, looking relieved and a little flattered. "I was cursing myself when I saw you showing up in that ridiculous outfit. I mean, I know you were doing that for me, it just made me think I should've done something… humanish? Instead of this."

Daniel walked over and reached for one of her wings, running a hand across one of the larger silver swoops when she let him. "I love it. I heard dying feathers was common but this…" He frowned. "Does it stay like this if you switch to your arms?"

Shuni's eyes had been tracking his hand, but they slid to the side with his question. "No. Had to have them redo it once I figured that out."

His laugh cut off halfway through. "Wait, you've been keeping yourself like this all day?"

"Only a few hours," Shuni replied humbly. "I've kept them out for longer on flights."

"Yeah, but this is, you did this for me. All I did was wear a dumb hood and, well, getting ahead of myself." He was acutely aware of how close they were, and the blue eyes now looking into his with anticipation. No fear, and only a little bit of embarrassment. He thought of how cold she must have been, even with her feathers, waiting for him like that all while he'd just bought clothes and a few overpriced candied fruit. And she thought she was the one who hadn't done enough?

He didn't feel what Quala had spoken of, though it would've been too soon for that. No, but his appreciation for Shuni warmed him. When he considered everything that had happened before today, all the things that could have gone wrong or just differently to change where he was standing now, he felt lucky. Grateful. And, certain.

Daniel backed up a step while holding onto Shuni's wing, creating enough space that either of them wouldn't feel uncomfortable if the wrong thing was said. Still looking directly at each other, Shuni read something in his eyes and slowly nodded for him to go on.

"I don't know what I'd call what we've been doing," Daniel began, any words he'd prepared beforehand falling out of his mind as he fell back on his true feelings. "Trying things out, I guess? It's been amazing. When you're with me it's like time doesn't pass at all, even when I'm struggling with an enchantment. You're an awesome hunting partner who's saved my life and everything I've cared about, someone I would always want by my side in a fight. And somehow, I'm fortunate enough that you can tolerate all the craziness of my life to want to share it."

The Rogue was definitely blushing under her feathers by the time he was done, but her makeup job did help hide that under the pigment. "You make me sound so noble. I just…" her voice caught briefly, and was strained with emotion as she continued. "I've been bouncing around a lot in my life. I wouldn't have been anyone without my class, but with it? I did my best but couldn't escape the suspicion and doubt. Everyone always checking their pockets, wondering where I went at night. Anytime anything went missing I was the first suspect."

Shuni sighed, and then used her other wing to cover Daniel's hand. "I don't care if it's because you're from somewhere else or not. You, your team, it was the first time I felt welcome. And the things we were doing made me feel important, trusted. But it's more than that. You care about people. You do things like the armor for Khiat's parents without even thinking about how much you could make by selling that stuff instead. You did the impossible to save someone you loved. All of that, and you think you're lucky I like you, Daniel?"

Now he was the one with the red cheeks. "At least the feeling's mutual. For what it's worth, Shuni, no matter what happens you'll always have a place with us." His mind went to his gift, still chilled in his bag of holding. It should have been brought out earlier but Shuni's appearance had thrown him off. "That being said? I want to take things further, Shuni. I don't care if it makes things complicated. I…" There was the briefest hesitation before he said the words. "I love you. If this world's going crazy and everything's falling apart, I'd rather have you as a partner than as a friend at the end." He willed his golden wings to cover the arm held over Shuni's gray feathers. "So, will you fly with me?"

"I'd do more than that." Both leaned in. Then there was an awkward moment as Daniel discovered that for all he'd thought about this, he hadn't considered how to kiss someone with a beak. They settled on a winged hug instead, Shuni's head pressing into his neck to let her whisper into his ear. "Love you too."

He didn't know how long they stayed together, but eventually he pulled away. "I think I could offer you a bunk in my room now, if you want it."

Shuni tilted her head for a moment before shaking it. "Let's keep it separate for now, if that's ok. I'd like to keep a space where I could have some alone time. For now, at least. Asking for that before was just…" She shook her head again, more forcefully this time. "Nerves making me dumb. I'm glad we did it this way instead."

"Me too." The two words didn't do it justice. Inside Daniel was a feeling more intense than anything that had come before, including the time he'd wielded his Spoke's mana. For all the emotion there he had no regret. "I have some snacks that I should have brought out half an hour ago if you're hungry."

"I'd have to ruin my styling to eat." Shuni looked at her arms, and then pointedly at Daniel. "You know, just because we aren't sharing a room doesn't mean I'll stop coming by at night. If you… wanted to start getting some use out of that muffle sound enchantment, I wouldn't mind working up an appetite first."

Oh. It took Daniel exactly half a second to understand, and the same amount of time to agree. The two joined together again amidst the cold of the winter's air, sheltering each other from the world of only for night.

…

In the heart of the multiverse, the fundamental laws watched. Karma did not need to measure the change in the relationship as the Octyrrum would everything else because it embodied all aspects of how souls related. Love, hate, everything, including concepts that had no meaning on either world Daniel knew.

There was no reason or logic to it, no grinding arithmetical gears that delivered the same output for a given input. Though it was a separate law, Karma would agree with Solipsism in that few relationships were the same. If the law had any sentience at all, that was, which it did not. It just was.

Still, as it observed the deepening of Daniel Brant and Shuni Martell's connection decisions were made. If the relationship was judged at the level of a bond there would be implications, the least of which would be what the Octyrrum would be allowed to do. The scales of Karma weighed each heart.

No bond was formed. This was no indictment on the budding romance, only a reminder that a bond was a precious thing above even simple love. Neither did Karma rule out, in its unthinking way, that it could happen in the future. Perhaps, perhaps, for in every small moment, every minor interaction, was the seed for great change. Not every wrong was righted, the law was Karma, not justice, but for every action there was a reaction. When reduced to its most basic concept, Karma was the representation of how people impacted each other. While it gave no bond to the two who had found each other, it would only have good things to say.

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